SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's tennis defeated Illinois State by a score of 4-0 on Friday afternoon at Degheri Tennis Center.
Santa Clara (4-5) won the doubles point with victories on courts one and two. Senior Daniella Silva and sophomore Madison Clarke won 6-4 on court one, marking their third straight doubles win. The duo is now 5-2 on court one in dual match play. Senior Nabila Farah and freshman Caitlyn Frankel earned a win on court two by a score of 6-4 to clinch the doubles point.
Clarke played her first-ever match on court one for the Broncos and won 6-1, 6-3 over Marcia Tere-Apisha. She is now 9-1 in her last 10 singles matches dating back to the fall. Junior Giannina Ong won on court six over Andrea Beneroso by a score of 6-4, 6-2. Junior Zeina El Tawil clinched the victory for SCU with her 6-3, 6-0 win on court four.
"I'm really proud of the team today because it's dead week and they have a lot going on with school," Santa Clara head coach Ben Cabell said. "They did a nice job focusing on this match and played tough. Illinois State is a good team. They just beat USF in our conference so for us to beat them convincingly is great."
The Redbirds (6-9) defeated the San Francisco, 4-3, on Tuesday, but ran into a Santa Clara squad which is starting to round into shape.
"We're a better team than our record," Cabell said. "We've now set our sights on conference play. This is our last match before league play so we feel good about where we're at. We've made some nice improvements and starting to get a nice rhythm."
For Ong, who joined the team last spring, it was a special day as she claimed her first collegiate dual singles victory.
"I'm really proud of Giannina," Cabell said. "She's worked really hard and now winning matches for us."
The Broncos begin WCC action next weekend with a match at Portland on Saturday, March 25 at 10 a.m. PT followed by a meeting at Gonzaga the following day at 11 a.m.
SCU 4, ISU 0
March 17, 2017 | Degheri Tennis Center (Santa Clara, Calif.)
DOUBLES
(1) Clarke/Silva (SCU) def. Tere-Apisah/JVujicic (ISU) – 6-4
(2) Farah/Frankel (SCU) def. Kustkova/Sprague (ISU) – 6-4
(3) Gercar/Beneroso (ISU) vs. El Tawil/Stephens (SCU) – 5-3, unfinished
SCU wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 1, 2
SINGLES
(1) Madison Clarke (SCU) def. Marcia Tere-Apisha (ISU) vs. – 6-1, 6-3
(2) Daniella Silva (SCU) vs. Karal Jelena Vujicic (ISU) – 7-5, 1-0 unfinished
(3) Nabila Farah (SCU) vs. Gabriela Sprague (ISU) – 6-3, 3-2 unfinished
(4) Zeina El Tawil (SCU) def. Jana Kustkova (ISU) – 6-3, 6-0
(5) Caitlyn Frankel (SCU) vs. Valerija Gercar (ISU) – 6-3, 1-4 unfinished
(6) Giannina Ong (SCU) def. Andrea Beneroso (ISU) – 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 6, 4*
* - clinched victory
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